Profits, revenue rise for Coke bottler

Coca-Cola Enterprises, the largest bottler of Coke products, raised its profit outlook for 2009 based on a strong first quarter that saw volume grow in Europe and decline less than expected in North America.

In a conference call Tuesday with analysts, Atlanta-based CCE said new beverages, new package sizes and cost-control efforts are paying off.

CCE Chairman and CEO John Brockalso said CCE works best as a separate company and questioned PepsiCo’s plan to spend $6 billion to buy its two largest bottlers. That would be a break from the current set-up in which bottlers are independent firms with franchising rights to bottle, sell and distribute products.

“We don’t believe that there will necessarily be any competitive advantages to this approach that our principal competitor is taking,” Brock said. “But frankly, we’ll let them do what they want to do and we’re going to go off and keep executing just like we did in the first quarter.”

CCE on Tuesday posted first-quarter net profitof $61 million, vs. $8 million in the first quarter of 2008. Revenue rose 3 percent to $5.05 billion. Excluding one-time items, such as restructuring charges, CCE had earnings per share of 20 cents. That beat expectations of 5 cents a share, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

CCE said it expects to make $1.24 to $1.29 per share for the full year. Analysts had earnings pegged at $1.20 per share.

CCE’s bottle and can volume in North America fell 3 percent, but it rose more than 5 percent in Europe. A steeper decline had been expected for North America. Higher prices offset higher costs.

CCE executives said new products, such as Powerade Zero and Vitaminwater 10, are doing well, and that it is benefiting from the addition of Monster, carried through a distribution deal.

The first quarter is a low-volume period, and the U.S. and European economies remain challenging, CCE executives said. The summer, a high-volume period, will be key, they said.